“Going out of business due to flood! Everything 50% off,” read signs taped this week to the entrance of Matt Moulden’s business, That 1 Jewelry Store.

Traffic at his store this time of year is usually about five times higher, he said. That was enough business to cover several months of rent through winter months, when visitors decrease.

But the trip to Estes has gotten longer.

With U.S. highways 34 and 36 closed, it takes about 3½ hours to get there instead of 45 minutes.

“I don’t know what to expect, anywhere from the next seven months to a year,” said Moulden, who ran the store for four years and is liquidating until the end of October.

More than 30 percent of Estes Park’s 568 businesses were affected by mud, water, sewer or road problems from the flood, according to town staff. Some cases were as minor as water leakage or as serious as structural damage. One business was destroyed.

Brooke Burnham with Visit Estes Park said September has become the area’s second-biggest month for tourism. For a few days during the floods, the town was cut off to all roads except Trail Ridge Road from very-rural Grand County. Even Internet, cell phones and landlines went black.

“Any days lost in the month of September hurt, for sure,” Burnham said, adding that the first few days when they were closed to all traffic were a “definitely a blow” and made people expect long-term closure. “We’re losing jobs as we lose visitors.”

Town Administrator Frank Lancaster said in an email that the town estimates a roughly 10 percent drop in sales tax revenue from its original forecast.

Not all bad

Restaurants, gift shops and more were able to reopen after the first few days. But along Elkhorn Avenue, the town’s main commercial passageway, many businesses remained closed Wednesday because of flooding damage from the storms nearly two weeks earlier. Witnesses had reported water on the street as high as 3 feet during the peak of the floods.

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Wayne and Karen Dwight of Mesa, Ariz., walked Elkhorn Avenue with their two Japanese Chin dogs, Oliver and Celine.

“We came up here to spend some money and help the businesses get back on their feet,” Wayne Dwight said.

He used to be in the Air Force and parked his camper at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora to wait out the storm and eventually drive up to Estes Park.

Moulden’s store escaped damage because about 8 inches of sediment clogged the area around his door, keeping out the gushing brown waters. But it’s the lack of customers, many of whom came from Loveland, Greeley and Fort Collins, that brought his business down.

With recovery underway, people could be seen Wednesday hosing the residual sediment off parking lots. Fans buzzed inside open doorways as desks and other furniture were stacked outside. Bright orange cones mark at least one spot along a sidewalk where bricks had been swept up in the flooding.

Meanwhile, on a hill above town, construction cones line a sidewalk to the Stanley Hotel. But these cones’ purpose is far from recovery: The hotel is growing.

The phones at the reception desk were abuzz Wednesday, and the concierge had to politely inform people that tickets aren’t available for the upcoming murder-mystery dinner and “Shining Ball” at the end of October.

“We are still completely sold out, and we have a running waiting list for people to get on those Halloween events,” hotel guest services manager Jesse Freitas said.

A new wedding and corporate retreat pavilion is also in the works.

Outside an open door a short walk from the reception desk, Lenny Hill was brushing the hotel’s Georgian revival-style white entryway with thick, glossy paint. After the flood, his family rationed food while stranded at their home down the canyon. He stayed in the disaster zone down the canyon as his wife and kids were rescued by National Guard helicopter.

The house was OK, although Internet and phone were down. After driving his Jeep down a mountain alone, on an access road through a private ranch, Hill is living in Longmont and commuting up a dirt road. He’s staying several days at a time at the hotel to paint.

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Several others working Wednesday said their lives also had been disrupted with flooded basements and crawlspaces, but they’re pressing on.

'It'll bounce back'

With more than half of its guests coming from outside Colorado, Freitas said the trip from Denver International Airport is only about 20 minutes longer with the Colorado Highway 7 detour — and it’s loaded with fall colors.

A busy weekend is expected, he said Wednesday, with occupancy at nearly 80 percent for Friday night. The floods caused weddings to be canceled in other areas near the Stanley. So the hotel actually ended up picking up some extras.

Flood-related damage to the hotel was minimal. The presidential cottage suffered water damage, forcing a bathtub to pop out of the ground.

During the winter, Freitas said the hotel will continue to expect traffic from Breckenridge and Vail as ski visitors drop over to stay for a night or more. And the state has plans to reopen more area highways by December.

As others recover, Moulden isn’t sure what he’ll do. But “somewhere, sometime” he said he aims to reopen.

He’s using a website to continue selling jewelry. Despite the pain the flood brought to Estes Park, Moulden is optimistic.

“It’ll bounce back,” he said. “It’s just, we’re going to hurt for a little while until they get the roads to open back up.”

Burnham said the town had to cancel some events because of the floods, but this weekend’s Elk Fest is still on, along with the rest of the year’s scheduled events. Town business owners are hopeful people will make the drive.